WIEDERGEBURT Act VI: Chapter 17

The sound of someone’s face being hit was followed by a scream of pain and a body falling to the floor. Skude held a hand to his nose. Blood spilled from between his fingers, down his chin, and dripped onto his silk tunic.

“F-Father… please… mercy…”

“You pathetic little shit! You think I’m going to show mercy to a spineless cockroach like you!” Klaue raged as he stalked up to his son, who scuttled back on all fours, and kicked him in the face. His son fell onto his back with a cry. “You had one job!” He stomped on his son’s stomach. “All you had to do was humiliate one upstart little child from the lower world!” He ignored the blood splattered across the sole of his boot as he smashed his son’s face. “Anyone could have done it, except you, you cowardice little cuck!”

Skude cried and pleaded and begged for mercy, but Klaue did not stop until his rage had been satiated and Skude lay broken on the floor.

Klaue took several deep breaths. His shoulders shook. He still felt the need to take his anger out on his useless son, but that would not solve anything.

He turned around and sat behind this desk.

This place was his office, a room that he had made sure contained only the finest luxuries money could buy. Famous landscape paintings, bookshelves of good, and even a suit of armor that looked more like a work of art than something functional. Of course, he had not paid a single cent. Having possessions like this was his right as someone who protected the freedoms of everyone in Ásgarðr.

After a moment of thought, he called for his servants.

“Get this trash out of my sight and clean him up,” Klaue ordered. “Make sure he’s presentable. He has school tomorrow.”

Skude might have been a useless coward, but this coward was still his son. It would not do if Klaue’s reputation was tarnished because of him. It would be even worse if someone became suspicious and decided to look into Skude’s home life.

The servant did not say anything. An old man with wrinkles on his face, he had been with Klaue long enough to understand how this worked. He bowed, picked up Skude, and left the room.

Klaue leaned back in his chair and thought about the latest wrinkle in his plan, the god child known as Eryk Vanir. It was not so much this child that threatened him. It was the people backing him--namely, it was that bitch Fray. Ever since Klaue tried to seduce her into his bed, she had been suspicious of him. He’d made sure to clean up his act. However, even after getting rid of all the evidence of his wrongdoings, she continued to look at him like he was a cockroach.

It was those eyes.

Those eyes that said he was worth less than shit.

He hated those eyes.

Unable to think of how to deal with Eryk, Klaue stood to his feet and walked over to the bookshelf. Drawing a finger along the spines of his books in a specific pattern activated the rune array within the shelf. It swung open. The well-lit stairwell beyond led to his private quarters, a place not even his servant knew about.

The room at the bottom of the stairs was half pleasure house and half torture chamber. Of course, pleasure and torture often went hand in hand.

Klaue ignored the wooden horse and whipping post as he made his way toward the far wall, where a beautiful young thing was bound, naked, against the stone. She had blond hair, blue eyes, and pale skin marked with many bruises and freshly healed lacerations. Her appearance only vaguely resembled Fray Vanir.

This woman was just a substitute until he could acquire the real thing.

The moment he stepped up to her, the woman squealed in fear and tried to back away, but she was already backed against the wall, and the chains kept her from moving anyway. A ball gagged had been shoved into her mouth. Drool leaked from around it just like tears leaked from one of her eyes. The other was swollen shut.

“I hope you’re ready to service me tonight.”

Klaue licked his lips as he undid the buckles of his pants and let them drop to the floor. The girl moaned around her gag as he stepped out of his pants and undid the latches on his wrist.

She tried to escape the moment she was free, but he caught her by the throat and threw her mercilessly onto the bed. As he used and abused her like a child might a toy, Klaue pictured someone else in her place, a certain golden-haired goddess who had longed to have underneath him for so many years. One way or another, that bitch would be his.

***

It had been two days since the competition against Skude. I had not done much more than wander my new home and compile a list of everything I needed to do.

First among that list was getting stronger; I would never be able to protect my family if I was not strong enough to defeat Sekbeist Lords of Durmuz’s caliber. Second was my decision to help Fray deal with Klaue. The man was obviously a thorn in her side and would likely become one in mine now that I had humiliated that man’s son.

I hadn’t seen Tor or Sif since the competition, but Fray visited me at least once a day. According to her, Tor and Sif were off dealing with military affairs. While Tyr was the general of the army, he was still below Tor, who was something like a supreme commander, or maybe a sovereign ruler.

That morning was no different. Tor and Sif were not present, but Fray was.

It might have been due to who was eating with me, but breakfast that morning consisted of porridge with oats, fresh fruit, and honey. A small cup of tea complimented the meal. There was no meat to be found, which made me guess Fray was not a huge meat eater like the other two.

“I’ve been thinking about your request,” I said after a few minutes of small talk. “And I was wondering… how exactly would you like me to help you deal with Klaue?”

Fray set down her cup of tea, folded her hands on the table, and said, “I guess I didn’t tell you about how I wanted your help. Currently, there is not much you can do--not directly. However, because of your age and unique circumstances, there is something you can do indirectly.”

“Which is?” I asked.

“Skude attends one of the most prestigious academies here in Ásgarðr. It is called the Hall of Heroes, or Hero Hall. I would like you to attend that school, get close to the people your age, and if possible, try to find out more about Skude’s home life.”

Her request was so absurd I needed a moment to comprehend it. Me? Attend school? I had not attended school for the entirety of my life, and now that I was coming up on thirty years, I was even more unqualified to attend.

“I know what you are thinking, but you would actually be the youngest person there,” Fray said, a small smirk quirking her lips. “Those of the lower realm might only live to be about seventy, but even the weakest Guddomelig will live for at least a thousand years if they don’t die of unnatural causes.”

That was not something I had known. It also brought a huge concern to mind. She was basically saying that I would probably live even more than a thousand years, but Kari, Fay, Lin, and Siv would likely not live that long unless they reached the Fifth State of Spiritualism.

I would need to figure that out before I reunited with them.

“So… how old are most of the people attending this school?” I asked.

Fray tilted her head and pondered the question. “I believe the youngest student is about one hundred and fifty, but the oldest will be around two hundred.”

I tried to wrap my head around that. I couldn’t, so I moved on.

“And what does this Hero Hall teach?” I questioned more.

“They teach a variety of subjects, but the ultimate goal of the Hall of Heroes is to train the next generation of Guddomelig on how to fight and high level concepts. There are many teachers there who have incredible knowledge on a variety of concepts. They also have meditation chambers that are even better than the one you used during your week of closed-door training.”

I perked up at the mention of their meditation chambers, more interested in attending now that I understood they could help me get stronger. Did Fray know I was looking to increase my strength? I wouldn’t put it past her. The woman was sharp.

“So, how does one get into Hero Hall?” I asked, leaning forward.

“Why, the same way everyone else does,” Fray began with a cheerful smile. “Sign up during their enrollment period and pass their admissions test. Fortunately for you, they began enrolling new students just the other day and will continue until next week. Be sure to get good marks on your admissions test.”

***

Because Fray was busy with other matters, and also because being walked to school by one’s aunt would be deemed embarrassing, I ended up being escorted to the Hall of Heroes by Chloe. Fray said this woman would be my personal attendant.

I wasn’t sure I wanted an attendant whose name wasn’t Lin, but I didn’t want to be rude.

“Thank you for escorting me,” I said as we walked through Ásgarðr.

“You are very welcome,” Chloe replied, her voice cheerful.

We were walking down an avenue on the tenth level of the city. I learned that the layers of this city was used to denote a form of class system. The people living on the tenth level were the wealthiest and most powerful among the Guddomelig. Those in the middle were the soldiers and well off merchants. Meanwhile, the people living on the bottom were commoners.

It was a very obvious form of classism that I was not used to seeing.

As we walked down the street, many of the people we passed stopped to look at us, and I could see people elbowing their friends and pointing to me. I wanted to sigh. This was all the fault of that competition I took part in. It looked like I was already standing out, and I didn’t know if that was a good thing.

“Hey, girly. What are you doing all alone? Why don’t you come spend some time with us? I promise we’ll treat you right.”

I heard the slimey pickup line just as I was passing an alley, where I saw a young woman being pressured by two men.

The woman had dark hair like Sif, but it was cut short, stopping at just around her shoulders. She had pale skin that contrasted with her black outfit. The corset she wore looked like it gave her breasts quite a bit of lift, but that might also have been because her chest looked like it was spilling from her top. Piercing blue eyes remained partially hidden behind black bangs.

I debated whether I should step in or not--it wasn’t my business, but it didn’t feel right leaving as if I hadn’t seen anything--but then the woman suddenly swung one of her long legs and slammed the tip of her boot into the left man’s chin. The attack lifted him into the air. He traced a parabolic arc before hitting the floor with a thud.

“Why, you bitch!”

The other man looked startled for a moment, but he didn’t let that stop him. Spiritual Power gathered on his hand as the area around his fist warped. I could sense spatial distortions, so this man had some talent for manipulating the Concept of Space.

And yet before he could actually do anything with that spatial energy, the woman pivoted on her right foot, and slammed her heel on top of his head. The man went down like a sack of bricks.

“Who the fuck do you people think you are?! Huh? Think you can fucking hit on a lady just because she’s walking through an alley?! The fuck you thinking, fuckers?!”

I could not remember hearing anyone say fuck so many times in a single breath. It was impressive. And disturbing.

I was about to leave, but before I could, the woman who’d beaten those two noticed me. She turned and glared.

“You wanna fucking piece of this too?” she asked, shaking her fist at me.

“I’ll pass,” I said dryly.

“Good.” The woman snorted. “You’ve got more sense than these fucktards. That said, if you ever do try anything funny, I’m gonna mess up that pretty boy face so bad not even your mother will recognize you.”

“My mom is dead, but I’ll keep that in mind,” I said.

“Ah?” I’d intended to just leave now that she’d said her piece, but my comment made her rub the back of her head. “Oh, sorry. That was my bad. Didn’t know your mom was… well…”

“It’s fine,” I said with a wave of my hand.

“Master,” Chloe suddenly interrupted. “If you do not hurry, you’ll be late to take the admissions test.”

“Oh, shit! I’m gonna be late too!” the woman exclaimed. “Gotta go! And sorry about the comment about your mom! Bye!”

The woman bolted, rushing down the road and disappearing around a corner. I waited for a moment, then sighed.

“I noticed she didn’t apologize for the comment about how she would mess up my face. Oh, well.”

I continued on my way with Chloe guiding me. We actually took the same route that woman had, though I wasn’t sure if we’d end up in the same place.

The Hall of Heroes, or Hero Hall, was a massive building that could be seen even from the palace. It was easy to spot because of how the building towered over the others. A well-cared for courtyard with manicured bushes and trees, small patches and grass, and two statues standing before a gate marked the entrance. The gate was currently open. Many men and women who didn’t look much older than me--but probably had me beat by at least a hundred years--were walking through the gate.

“This is where I will have to leave you.” Chloe clasped her hands and bowed to me. “Please have a good first day, Master Eryk. I hope you do well on your admissions test.”

“Thank you, and thanks for escorting me here,” I said.

Chloe offered me one last smile before turning on her heel and leaving. I didn’t bother watching her leave, but turned around again and merged with the other people traveling into the academy.

Many years ago, I went to the Nevaria Spiritualist Academy to sell a Spiritual Technique Scroll I had created. I remembered thinking it was a large academy back then.

It had nothing on this.

The Hall of Heroes was like a goliath. It was not a single building but a multi-building complex, and each building was about the size of the towers housing the Great Six Sects of Midgard--in height. In width, these buildings had them beat.

I walked alongside a ground, doing my best to blend in. A perfectly manicured lawn lay on either side of stone tiles that shone like gold, trees dotted the grassy landscape, and several people were merely standing around beneath them as they talked. That said, most people were walking toward the massive building at the end of this walkway.

Ascending the steps with everyone else, I walked through the wide open entryway, and looked around at what appeared to be an entrance hall.

“All new prospects wishing to attend, please line up at one of these tables!” someone shouted.

The tables in question were longer than they were wide. A group of men and women sat behind them, their age unknown. All of them looked young, but I knew better than to judge someone’s age by their appearance. I got in line with the others, keeping my head down so I wouldn’t be noticed, but I should have known that was an impossible task.

“Hey, hey. Isn’t that Eryk Vanir?”

“It is! It totally is! I saw his competition with Skude the other day!”

“Me too! He completely humiliated that doucher!”

“What’s he doing here?”

“Don’t know. Should we ask him?”

“I don’t know… what if he’s a jerk? He might humiliate us like he did Skude.”

Withholding a sigh, I realized my entrance into this school might not be as smooth as I wished.

The line moved slowly as the people before me were asked to state their name, age, and what high level concept they knew. I wondered what I should tell them. Right now I was decent at using the Concepts of Life and Death, but I felt like I could understand the other concepts a little bit too. As I was wondering about this, I arrived at the front of the table.

“Name?” asked the man sitting before me.

“Eryk Vei… Vanir,” I said, hurriedly changing my name.

The man’s head snapped up to look at me. “I see. So you’re Eryk Vanir, huh? I saw your competition against Skude. Quite impressive.”

“Thank you.” I inclined my head respectfully.

“What’s your age?”

I paused for a moment. “Twenty-nine…”

The man hesitated, then wrote down the age. “And what concepts do you know?”

“Life and Death.”

“Two concepts, eh? That’s impressive.” The man jotted those down with his quill, then slid the parchment with my information onto the pile. “You’re all set. Just stand over there with the rest of the initiates.”

The man gestured to where several hundred other people were standing. I nodded and moved, standing within the crowd, aware of the eyes on me. Maybe I should have thought about dying my hair…

“So you’re Eryk Vanir,” a vaguely familiar voice said.

I turned to find the woman I’d seen just a few minutes ago standing beside me, her blue eyes staring at me like I was a puzzle, an anomaly.

“I am,” I confirmed. “And you are?”

The woman grinned. “Name’s Tora Tiwaz! Nice to meetcha!”

“Ah?” While I didn’t know the first name, that last one was familiar. “Are you realized to Tyr… er, Lord Tyr by chance?”

“That’s right. He’s my pa.” There was something odd about the way she said that, like acid was burning her mouth. “Named me after Tor he did, in honor of their friendship.” She tilted her head. “I was at the party and saw you, but only from a distance. I never got the chance to approach.”

“Which explains why you didn’t recognize me,” I said with a nod.

“That? Naw. I just don’t remember people unless they interest me.” I felt a droplet of sweat trickle down my forehead, but the woman leaned in close, her eyes shining as she stared at me. “You didn’t interest me before, but now you do.”

Too close. This woman was way too close.

“That so? Should I feel honored?”

Even though I wanted to lean back, I felt like that would be admitting defeat, so I stared right back at her. Perhaps to my consternation, my act of defiance gained her approval. She nodded once and leaned back.

“You should feel very honored. I don’t know if you realize this, but lots of men are interested in me. However, I am not interested in any of them.”

I didn’t know what I should say; should I tell her I was flattered but not interested? Should I inform her that I was married? This was, oddly enough, not a situation I’d ever found myself in. Under Kari’s leadership, my wives made it their personal mission to screen any woman who wanted to meet me. They weren’t interested in letting more women into my life.

It took a very long time for the process of accepting initiates to become complete, but at long last, everything was finished. A man in resplendent golden robes appeared before us. I guessed he was an instructor, or perhaps even the dean. He looked young though. If I were to judge his age on physical appearance alone, he looked like someone in his thirties.

“To all the initiates who have gathered today, welcome,” the man began. “My name is Birger Fest, and I will be the one testing to see which among you is worthy of receiving tutelage at the Hall of Heroes. Let me be clear. Many of you will fail. Our prestigious academy only accepts the best and brightest of students. Those who fail are free to try again next year.”

Fray had told me a bit about this academy before I left with Chloe. The Hall of Heroes trained people specifically for the purpose of leading the fight against the Sekbeist. Because this was a task only people of great character and strength could accomplish, the standards for acceptance were stringent, moreso than any other academy. On the other hand, those who were accepted were guaranteed to become prominent figures.

“The first task we have set for you is to see how powerful your understanding of high level concepts are.”

As the man spoke, several people pushed in what looked like a giant stone block. It was square, about three times bigger than the average human, and completely clear. Translucent to the point that I could see through it without trouble. I noticed the struggle these people had pushing it and knew there had to be something special about those stones.

I found out what made them special a moment later.

“Some of you may recognize these. These are Absorption Stones,” Birger stated with a gesture of his hand. “When you channel Spiritual Power into these stones, they will glow with a specific color based on the concept you understand. The higher your understanding of a specific concept, the more colorful the stone will become. White for space; black for dimension; green for life; red for death; purple for time; and prismatic for creation.”

Prismatic was not a color, but I didn’t say anything. I guess the Concept of Creation embodied multiple colors because it was considered the highest level concept alongside the negation, which I noticed they left out entirely. Did that mean Guddomelig couldn’t use the void? Or did they abstain from it because the Sekbeist were well-known void users?

“You will come up when I call your name,” Birger announced as he looked at the sheet of parchment in his hands. “Alexander Becker.”

A young man stepped out of the crowd. He had a head of blond hair, green eyes, and pale skin. His outfit was threadbare, meaning he was probably a commoner. Several of the other initiates standing in the crowd ridiculed him for his clothes.

“Looks like another peasant wants to become one of us.”

“Ha! Nobodies like him should know better than to try and join a prestigious academy like this.”

“Peasants only sully the Hall of Heroes’s good name.”

No matter where one lived, there would always be people who thought themselves better due to their social status. It didn’t matter which realm one lived in.

“Fucking jerks,” Tora muttered as she clenched her hands into fists.

“You dislike people like that?” I asked.

“Of course I fucking do. Don’t you?” She turned just her head to look at me.

I nodded once. “I do.”

While this woman was indeed the crassest I’d ever met, she seemed to be a good person, though I was still wary of her due to what Fray told me of Tyr.

Alexander walked up to the Absorption Stone, placed his hand on it, and closed his eyes. I activated Spiritual Perception and watched as an intense flame far brighter than one a human Spiritualist could produce erupted from him. It was a dark black, like an abyss. The Concept of Death then.

The stone gradually changed color, shifting from completely translucent to a dull black. A small ball of blackness appeared in the center and grew bigger. It was not by much. I’d say about only a tenth of the block was filled, but that impressed Tora, who nodded approvingly.

“That wasn’t bad,” she said to herself.

“So his talent is above average?” I asked.

“Mmm.” Tora crossed her arms. “I’d say he’s a little better than the average initiate. Most can only fill about a twentieth of this absorption stone.”

“Excellent job,” Birger said. “You pass. Next up is Aincrid Bauer.”

I didn’t ask how she knew this. I didn’t care to know. The next person was called out and, true to what she said, he only filled about a twentieth of the stone, though that was still enough to pass. I felt a sense of poetic justice when the people who had been making fun of Alexander went up and only filled about a fifteenth of the stone.

“Tora Tiwaz!”

Finally, it was Tora’s turn. She walked out amidst a crowd of mumbles, stepped over to the stone, and placed a hand upon it. As her eyes fluttered closed, I activated Spiritual Perception again. I was curious to see how much power she had.

I became shocked when an overwhelming explosion of Spiritual Power nearly blinded me. Tora was far stronger than any person who had come up so far. Another thing I noticed was that unlike most people, who understood only the Concept of Death, she understood the Concept of Space.

Concepts were divided into low, middle, and advanced. Life and Death were considered lower concepts because they were easier to comprehend. Space, Dimension, and Time were middle concepts. Creation and Negation were advanced concepts. The more complex the concept was to understand, the more powerful it was and the more difficult it was to master. This was also why the Sekbeist were such frightening foes. Every Sekbeist Lord and even some of the slave caste like the Warlords understood the Concept of Negation to some degree.

A white light instantly shone inside of the Absorption Stone, expanding at a rapid pace. It didn’t take more than a single for her to fill up a tenth of the stone. She didn’t stop there, however, and I watched as she shoved more Spiritual Power into the stone. She was feeding it spatial energy. Before the five second mark had passed, Tora had already filled up half the stone.